Up to standard? A critique of IPSO's Editors' Code of Practice and IMPRESS' Standards Code (Part 1)

This, the first part of a two-part article, compares and contrasts the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) Editors' Code and the Independent Monitor of the Press (IMPRESS) Standards Code to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and whether they are 'fit for purpose'

Up to standard? A critique of IPSO's Editors' Code of Practice and IMPRESS' Standards Code (Part 1)

This, the first part of a two-part article, compares and contrasts the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) Editors' Code and the Independent Monitor of the Press (IMPRESS) Standards Code to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and whether they are 'fit for purpose'

The LawWorks Law School Pro Bono and Clinic Survey 2014

A survey of UK law schools use of clinical legal education and pro bono services

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care

Creating and curating an archive: Bury St Edmunds and its Anglo-Saxon past

This contribution explores the mechanisms by which the Benedictine foundation of Bury St Edmunds sought to legitimise and preserve their spurious pre-Conquest privileges and holdings throughout the Middle Ages. The archive is extraordinary in terms of the large number of surviving registers and cartularies which contain copies of Anglo-Saxon charters, many of which are wholly or partly in Old English. The essay charts the changing use to which these ancient documents were put in response to threats to the foundation's continued enjoyment of its liberties. The focus throughout the essay is to demonstrate how pragmatic considerations at every stage affects the development of the archive and the ways in which these linguistically challenging texts were presented, re-presented, and represented during the Abbey’s history

The protection of journalists' confidential sources: an examination of the Valerie Plame's Affair and beyond

Discusses the alleged release of information by US administration officials that the wife of a former ambassador, who had challenged the justification for the invasion of Iraq, was a CIA operative working on weapons of mass destruction. Reviews the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decision in United States v Miller on whether a journalist's sources were protected by privilege under the First Amendment or common law. Considers the implications of the case for the protection of journalists' sources and news gathering, and proposals for a federal shield law